K-1 World MAX 2013 Quarter Final in Gran Canaria Results
On January 11th in Gran Canaria, Spain K-1 once again descended upon Spain for another round of the K-1 World MAX 2013 tournament. The event was to see a second set of combatants move on to the Final 4 round of the K-1 World MAX tournament, which is set to be held on February 23rd in the country of Azerbaijan. The fans in attendance were excited to see their local heroes given a chance to prove their mettle against some of the best fighters in the world with explosive results.
Even through two opponent changes close to fight time, young British prospect Chad Sugden looked composed and ready to make a big impact on the K-1 fans across the world as he squared off against Jorge Falcon. Falcon immediately found himself in trouble as Sugden was able to drop him and force a count by the referee, but Falcon was back to his feet and ready for more action. Sugden kept his composure and was able to find the holes in Falcon’s defenses, landing some big shots before he had Falcon cornered and landed a barrage of punches that saw Falcon fall into the ropes before crashing to the mat with the referee calling for the bell. This was the Chad Sugden that everyone had heard so much about.
The second fight on the card saw Azerbaijan’s Tural Bayramov square off against Spanish fighter Alejandro Rodriguez. The first round saw the Azerbaijani come out with a quick knockout as his plan, landing big shots early on that put Alejandro down. Things were looking bleak for Rodriguez in that first round, but he got himself back into the game and was able to survive the round. In one of the most exciting moments of the night Rodriguez found a perfectly-placed knee to the midsection on Bayramov that sent him reeling, following it up with unprotected shots to the jaw that put Bayramov down and out of the fight, with Rodriguez coming from behind the capture the huge victory!
The third bout of the evening saw two Spanish fighters fighting to both impress the local audience and the K-1 audience around the world in Jauanma Suarez and David De Bejear. Both men fought with all of their heart and power as they threw heavy leather and absorbed a lot of damage much to the local fans’ pleasure. It was a close, back-and-forth battle between the two men before the decision was announced, with Suarez taking a close, Split Decision victory.
Now we moved on to the first of two K-1 World MAX Quarter Final bouts as Korea’s Sung Hyun Lee met Spain’s Elam Ngor. Both men looked impressive in the Final 8 portion of the tournament back in September, making this a heavily-anticipated bout. This turned out to be one of the most technical fights of the night, with Lee keeping distance and throwing precise, well-timed shots while Ngor was looking to knock Lee off balance and set up a big flying knee. Even with the local crowd cheering Ngor on it was clear that Lee had done enough to win the fight, as Lee walked away with a Split Decision victory and the respect of all of the fans watching.
The second K-1 World MAX Quarter Final bout saw local hero Maximo Suarez against Germany’s Enriko Kehl. Kehl was originally scheduled to fight in China on December 28th but an injury forced him onto this card instead, where he had a stiff challenge by the way of local legend Maximo Suarez. Suarez looked prepared for the battle with Kehl, but Kehl was a man possessed as he landed many big shots, keeping Suarez at bay and not offering him any chance to get back into the fight. The beating that Kehl laid upon Suarez was enough to garner him a Unanimous Decision and he will advance into the next round of the tournament.
The night closed out with two 95kg fighters in Tofan Pirani and Moises Baute in a fight that was not destined to last long as Baute was a man possessed, making quick work with some brutal punches that put Pirani down and out. The local fans appreciated the win from a hometown fighter as K-1 capped off the first big event of the year, with another show promised in February in Azerbaijan.
Moisés Baute def. Tofan Pirani - KO, Round 1
K-1 MAX Quater Final: Enriko Kehl def. Maximo Suárez - Unanimous Decision
K-1 MAX Quater Final: Sung Hyung Lee def. Elam Ngor - Split Decision
Juanma Suarez def. David De Bejear - Split Decision
Alejandro Rodríguez def. Tural Bayramov - KO, Round 2
Chad Sudgen def. Jorge Falcon - KO, Round 1
